YSR Congress releases full list of candidates for Lok Sabha, Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh

The main opposition in Andhra Pradesh the YSR Congress Sunday released its full list of candidates for 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly constituencies that go to the polls in Andhra Pradesh on April 11.

YSRC chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy released the list after paying homage to his late father and former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy at their family estate in Idupulapaya of Kadapa district. Of the 25 Lok Sabha candidates, seven were from backward classes, four Scheduled Castes and one Scheduled Tribe, Jagan said, adding among the 175 Assembly candidates, 41 belonged to the backward classes and five to the Muslim community.

Only two candidates, who were elected as party MPs in 2014, have been re-nominated, while for the remaining 23 seats, the YSRC has chosen new nominees. It dropped Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and Y V Subba Reddy, who represented Nellore and Ongole constituencies respectively, while Vara Prasad, who was Tirupati MP, has now been fielded for the from Gudur (SC) Assembly constituency.

Modugula Venugopal Reddy, the TDP MLA who recently joined the YSRC, has been made the party candidate for the Guntur Lok Sabha seat. Former MP Vanga Geeta, who joined the YSRC only Saturday evening, is being fielded from Kakinada while MLC Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, who too joined the party Saturday night, will be fighting for the Ongole Lok Sabha seat.

Srinivasulu Reddy represented Ongole in 2004 and 2009 but lost to the YSRC in 2014. Former minister B Durga Prasad, who defected from the TDP, has been chosen as the candidate for Tirupati (SC) seat.

Adala Prabhakar Reddy, another defector from the TDP, has been nominated for the Nellore Lok Sabha seat. Reddy was selected as the TDP candidate for Nellore Rural Assembly seat on Thursday but he joined YSRC on Saturday. Businessman Potluri Vara Prasad (PVP), who is making his political debut, will be the candidate from Vijayawada parliamentary constituency.

A former inspector of police, Gorantla Madhav, who had a feud with TDP MP J C Diwakar Reddy in Anantapuramu district, has been fielded from Hindupur Lok Sabha segment. In 2014, the YSRC won eight Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.

The MPs from Nandyal and Kurnool later switched sides to the TDP while the Araku MP also quit the YSRC. Incidentally, Butta Renuka from Kurnool returned to the YSRC on Saturday after TDP denied her either a Lok Sabha or an Assembly ticket. The YSRC too did not select her for the April 11 electoral contest.

TDP MP Pandula Ravindra Babu, who joined the YSRC recently, has also been denied a ticket. Anakapalli MP M Srinivasa Rao, another defector, however, has been given the Bhimili Assembly ticket of his choice. Rao was first elected to the Assembly from Bhimili in 2009.

-PTI